Superstition: Guest Post by Natalie Star

Ooo, let's all welcome Natalie Star to my blog and a wonderful guest post that she's wrote for me! Thank you so much, Natalie! On with the post...



su·per·sti·tion [soo-per-stish-uhn] noun - A belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like. (Dictionary.com).

Chances are, if you’re not superstitious then you don’t know what today’s date is. If you are, then maybe you are reading this from your “hideout”.

It’s Friday the 13th! How did the number thirteen get such a bad rap? In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness. We have twelve months in the year, twelve hours on the clock, twelve Gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, etc., whereas the number thirteen is considered irregular, or not complete. (FYI…The fear of Friday the 13th has been called friggatriskaidekaphobia).

While we’re at it, let’s take a look at some other superstitions:

v Black cats – The folklore surrounding black cats varies greatly between cultures. Most consider a run-in with them bad luck, while others consider it positive. The differences are many; I might just blog on black cats alone one day. It’s all very interesting. (Ailurophobia is the fear of cats).

v Walking under ladders – This superstition comes from early Christian times, anything such as a ladder, forming a triangle with three points, represented the holy trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). It was disgraceful to walk through a symbol of the holy trinity. Doing so could have branded you a witch, and that was bad luck. Nowadays it’s just plain common sense not to walk under a ladder for safety reasons.

v Breaking a mirror – Interestingly, I came across a dozen superstitions on looking glasses/mirrors. I went with the most popular…Before mirrors, any reflective surface was considered magical with powers of seeing into the future. So after mirrors were created, if you broke one that meant you future was shattered. The modern day twist – you will have seven years bad luck.

v Don’t Split the Pole – If two people are walking together and come to a pole, if one goes one way around the pole and the other goes the other way around the pole, it will bring bad luck. Both should go the same way around the pole together to avoid the bad luck. I couldn’t find the origin on this one, but it’s alive and well. My teen daughter yelled at me for splitting the pole a few weeks ago!

v Spilled Salt – Soldiers in Rome were often paid in salt. To spill salt was a waste, and the superstition that claimed bad luck would visit anyone who spilt salt came about to deter this behavior. In today’s society, it’s believed if you spill salt you should scoop up as much as you can, and throw it over your left shoulder to avoid bad luck by “throwing it in the devils face”.

What’s your take on superstitions? Are you a believer? Is there one I missed that you think should be on this list? Weigh in on the subject in the comments section below!

Thank you, Joseph for allowing me to ramble on your blog today! XOXO. This was a fun subject which I didn’t even scratch the surface of. There are many variations in different cultures, countries, and religions. Now I am intrigued and see many hours of research in my future, and who knows I may incorporate some of them into my novels.

Happy Friday the 13th, and have a great day!

~ Natalie Star

http://www.authornataliestar.com - My website.

http://authornataliestar.blogspot.com - stop by for the Autism Awareness Blog Hop happening right now! – with lots of fun giveaways! http://www.facebook.com/iamjustnatalie



-Joseph





And if you want to write a guest post for me just email me at josepheastwood@ymail.com and we can sort something out, I always love it when you guys write posts for me... also, I'm getting over 300 hits a day to my blog, so get in touch! ;D




I hope you have you a great Friday too!




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